Reality Fighting @ Mohegan Sun – Fight Recap

As we’ve come to expect here at FlashWounds, Kipp Kollar (President), Joe Cuff (VP/Matchmaker) and their team at Reality Fighting put on an exciting Mixed Martial Arts show for the pumped-up crowd at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Connecticut Saturday night. I don’t know what they feed their fighters over there at RF, but every one of them comes out strong and leaves it all in the cage. Here’s a recap of the action.

Miguel Santos Vs. JOEY GOMEZ (Bantamweight)

Rd 1 The bout opens with some good striking by both fighters. Halfway through the round, Santos gets a takedown but Gomez gets back up quickly — only to be taken down again. After enduring some punishment, Gomez gets back up with Santos clinging to his back looking for a submission. But Santos gets thrown forward to the ground over Gomez’s head. Gomez jumps on top of him and delivers some brutal ground and pound until the referee stops the fight!

After the fight Santos, the local favorite, is clearly upset about the outcome and delivers an emotional apology to his fans to a big round of applause.

Gomez wins by TKO due to strikes at 4:26 of the 1st round.

Jeremiah Soto Vs. NICHOLAS GIULIETTI (Lightweight)

Rd 1 Giulietti wastes no time in dragging Soto to the ground; he gets up quickly but gets taken down again almost immediately. Giulietti delivers good strikes from the top until the end of the round.

Rd 2 After 30 seconds of circling, the fighters pretty much re-enact the first round, but his time Soto ends up mounted and receives some serious hits, yet survives until the bell.

Rd 3 The third engagement is more even, with Soto managing to stuff all of Giulietti’s takedown attempts and hold his ground in the stand-up game. Giulietti finally succeeds in taking Soto down in the last few seconds of the round.

Giulietti wins by unanimous decision (29-28,29-28,30-27).

TYLER ROSE Vs. David Porter (Welterweight)

Rd 1 Porter opens with good leg kicks but gets taken down with Rose in side control. Porter quickly reverses him and gets back up. After some striking, Porter gets a takedown but Rose springs straight back up. Several good head strikes by Rose and Porter is hurt; he attempts a takedown but ends up on his back with very little time left. No significant damage is dealt by Rose from the top until the end of the round.

Rd 2 After some striking and grappling, Rose ends up on top in half guard and executes a nice armbar to end the fight.

Rose wins by submission (armbar) at 1:40 of the 2nd round.

ROB BROWN Vs. Joe Leonard (Featherweight)

Rd 1 Rob Brown comes out strong and delivers a barrage of strikes followed by a nice takedown. He ends up in full mount and lays on the ground and pound thick and heavy until the referee pulls him off of Leonard.

In the post-fight interview Brown announces his intention to go pro. Can’t argue with that decision after this performance!

Brown wins by TKO due to strikes at 2:06 of the first round.

Mike De Los Reyes Vs. THEO DESJARDIN (Flyweight)

Rd 1 Mike De Los Reyes rapidly ends up with Desjardin’s back and stays there for most of the round, but ultimately can’t quite sink the choke despite delivering some serious punishment from the back to soften him up.

Rd 2 De Los Reyes comes out swinging at the opening bell, delivers some good strikes and ends up taking Theo down. But Desjardin gets the reverse and mounts De Los Reyes, ends up getting his back and succeeds where his opponent had failed in completing the rear naked choke.

Desjardin wins by submission (rear naked choke) at 2:10 of the 2nd round.

JOHN LOPEZ Vs. Jon Marcheterre (Bantamweight)

Rd 1 The fight opens with some striking, after which Marcheterre makes the ill-fated decision to pull guard. Lopez winds up in half guard and gets a guillotine from the top, forcing Marcheterre to tap out.

Lopez wins by submission (guillotine choke) at 1:35 of the 1st round.

MANNY MILLAN Vs. Manny Torres (Lightweight)

Rd 1 Torres gets cut over his left eye early in the round. After a couple of minutes of striking Millan gets the takedown and ends up on Torres’ back, but can’t quite finish the fight in that position in the 2 minutes left to the round.

Rd 2 After a minute of striking, Torres gets taken down again but succeeds in delivering some good strikes from the bottom. After a minute the referee decides to stand them up, but Millan is quick to retake the top ground position. Torres again is able to hold his own from the bottom until the end of the round.

Rd 3 Millan charges out at the opening bell and immediately takes Torres to the ground. After 2 minutes spent in half guard he has Torres caught in a full mount and dropping bombs, exacerbating Torres’ cut. Torres is forced to give up his back to protect himself, but the referee calls a time-out to have the cut checked out by the doctor, who doesn’t like what he sees and stops the fight.

Millan wins by TKO (referee stoppage due to cuts) at 2:36 of the 3rd round.

KURT CHASE-PATRICK Vs. Thiago Carfi (Bantamweight)

Rd 1 Carfi charges Chase-Patrick immediately for a takedown but ends up on the bottom himself. Chase-Patrick goes for an armbar but Carfi defends. Back on their feet Carfi gets Chase-Patrick’s back. But Chase-Patrick takes him down and winds up on top to deliver some solid ground and pound, then seizes an arm triangle opportunity and is able to get the finish.

Chase-Patrick wins by submission (arm triangle choke) at 1:52 of the first round.

JASON WARD Vs. Domenic Gagliardi (Middleweight)

Rd 1 Gagliardi opens with solid head shots. Ward drives home a couple of takedowns but Gagliardi keeps getting up immediately. Gagliardi delivers a good head kick; Ward goes for another takedown — but Gagliardi again springs right back up to his feet. Apparently changing tactics, Ward starts dishing out some brutal body and head strikes, overwhelming Gagliardi until the referee stops the fight. Ward’s fan club — filling up several sections in one corner of the arena — goes completely wild!

In the post-fight interview, Reality Fighting President Kipp Kollar congratulates Ward, telling him, “You’re my favorite RF fighter.“

Ward wins by TKO due to strikes at 2:11 of the first round.

Dasha Hamilton Vs. FERNANDA ARAUJO (Ladies Bantamweight)

Rd 1 The entire opening round of the only female fight of the night is spent in a stand-up war, with both fighters letting the leather fly freely — although Araujo has clearly superior striking. After five minutes of non-stop aggression on both sides, the bell rings.

Rd 2 This round starts out like a repeat of the first one, but Araujo appears the fresher fighter and again is landing tons of shots. During a brief clinch, Araujo executes a beautiful judo throw that lands Hamilton on the ground, with Araujo staying up and delivering some kicks to the legs of her downed opponent.  After a while, the referee intervenes and stands Hamilton up, shortly before the end of the round.

Rd 3 Again a round with straight-up kickboxing action, interrupted briefly only once by the referee to have the doctor examine Hamilton’s face. The fight resumes in anger with both athletes redoubling their striking efforts. At the end of the third round, I’m sure everybody agrees with Kipp’s assessment in the post-fight interview: “Fight of the night by far!“

Araujo wins by unanimous decision (30-27,29-28,29-28).

Walter Howard Vs. DIRLEI BROENSTRUP (Light Heavyweight)

Rd 1 Broenstrup comes out with some good kicks and punches, then takes down Howard but never succeeds in capitalizing on it until Howard finally gets up. Howard lands some big strikes, ending in the clinch where Broenstrup gets a big takedown and winds up with side control. After a failed Kimura attempt by Broenstrup, Howard gets back up only to end up in another clinch and Broenstrup takes him down again, this time getting his back and threatening with a rear naked choke — but Broenstrup runs out of time as the bell rings.

Rd 2 Howard seems gassed from the last round and Broenstrup is landing big leg kicks, then shoots and lands on top of Howard. Broenstrup improves his position to side control and goes for the mount but can’t quite make it. After some sporadic ground and pound the referee stands them up. Howard seems to have recovered now and is landing big head shots, prompting another takedown by Broenstrup. Again he winds up on Howard’s back with both hooks in but Howard is able to turn into him and winds up on top just as the round ends.

Rd 3 The first 2 minutes are spent striking with both fighters giving as good as they get. Broenstrup follows a big head strike with a takedown attempt but Howard stuffs it and they wind up in the clinch again against the cage until the referee breaks it up at length. As they resume, Howard is landing some huge head and body shots — enough to make Broenstrup lose his mouthpiece. Referee Kevin MacDonald actually calls a time-out to get the mouthpiece rinsed off. As the fight resumes, a failed Broenstrup takedown attempt lands Howard on top of him and Howard starts laying down some brutal ground and pound but there’s no time left as the closing bell ends this fight.

Broenstrup wins by unanimous decision (29-28,29-28,29-27).

ROGER ZAPATA Vs. Chip Moraza-Pollard (Welterweight)

Rd 1 The first round is spent in a stand-up game, with plenty of high and head kicks and good combos on both sides. Moraza-Pollard is the more aggressive fighter but Zapata clearly has better hands. Very close contest.

Rd 2 More stand-up, more back and forth striking with Moraza-Pollard pushing the action — but Zapata still lands more. Just before the bell Zapata picks up Moraza-Pollard and slams him to the ground.

Rd 3 Zapata opens with some great strikes, and then rushes Moraza-Pollard to the cage and they clinch for a while until the referee breaks them up. Zapata clearly has momentum now as he keeps landing blow after blow to a now-bloodied Moraza-Pollard as the crowd is cheering him on. Great stand-up battle!

In the post-fight interview Kipp tells Zapata that he wants him to fight champion Brett Oteri in a title fight. Now there’s a fight you don’t wanna miss!

Zapata wins by unanimous decision (30-27,30-27,30-27).

Reality Fighting